Two sides of housing affordability stress: objective and subjective burdens and depression and suicidal ideation among urban young adults

Background Housing affordability stress is a significant determinant of psychological health among young adults in urban settings. However, prior studies often rely on a single indicator, limiting understanding of how objective financial burdens and subjective experiences of affordability stress relate to depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. This study addresses these gaps by jointly examining objective and subjective housing affordability stress. Methods We used longitudinal data from the Seoul Young Adult Panel Study (2021–2024), comprising 5155 individuals and 13 735 person-wave observations. Objective housing affordability stress was defined as allocating 30% or more of total household expenditures to housing, while subjective affordability stress captured self-reported difficulty paying housing-related expenses. Individual fixed-effects regression models were estimated to examine within-person associations between housing affordability stress and depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Results Both objective and subjective housing affordability stress were significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms and increased likelihood of suicidal ideation. Subjective affordability stress showed a stronger association with depressive symptoms than objective measures. When the two measures were considered jointly, individuals experiencing both objective and subjective affordability stress had the highest levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, indicating an additive effect of dual affordability stress. Conclusions Objective and subjective measures of housing affordability stress capture distinct yet complementary dimensions of housing-related hardship and identify different at-risk groups. A joint measurement approach provides a more comprehensive assessment of housing-related psychological health risks among urban young adults than reliance on a single indicator.